This was an interesting exploration of violence against females and defining predators. It was sometimes a challenging read (like, literally. As in re-reading lines to get what was meant), but overall, I’m glad I read it. 

 

Energy: Disheartening. Distant. Disturbed. 

 

🐕 Howls The writing was sometimes hard to follow in a ‘these are words, but I still don’t get what is going on’ way. I found myself mixing up the different character names (Ruth, Rose, and Annie) especially when they’re also referred to by aliases. Ending was muddled. Too many uncertainties left unresolved. Twist at the end was just confusing. Story felt rushed once our main character got back to New York.  

 

🐩 Tail Wags Deep dive into the main character’s mind. The feeling of eavesdropping, slowly piecing together what’s happening. Fascinating potentially unreliable main character. Believable portrayal of armchair detectives. Not idealizing all women as good. Suspenseful writing style. Literary fiction style feels. 

 

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in Manhattan NY with little journeys to 🇳🇿 New Zealand and 🇳🇴 Norway. 

Perspective: Our main character was deeply affected by the kidnapping and murder of a seven-year old when they were seven. They are living in a family apartment  recovering from an incident that led to their removal from college studying criminal psychology, when an Amber Alert appears. 

We also get brief flashbacks from our main character at seven years old, and the brief perspective of a teen connected to someone adjacent to the murders. 

Timeline: Late 2010s. 1996 (briefly). 🍃 Spring (June)  

🔥 Fuel: Who is the child confined to a small room? What happened to Ruth that has everyone so worried about her mental health? Can she really see and hear what she does? Is there a connection to a convicted murderer when another girl goes missing from her hometown?

📖 Cred: Realism with a touch of paranormal

 

AMBER alert. Calm, spring air. Bourbon. Pebble beach. Hotel room. Airport. Paperback. Emails.  

 

Content Heads-Up: Confinement (on page). Abduction (child; on page perspective). Loss of child (murder). Alcohol use (intoxication). Controlling, toxic relationship (off page recalls). Serial murders. Pedophilia (grooming; inappropriate touching & comments;

teacher-student

). Hallucinations. Medical emergency (dog). Domestic abuse (brief, off page). Homophobia (marriage equality, brief discussion). Sexual harassment (of minor; off page). Sexual assault (on page). 

 

Rep: American. New Zealander/Kiwi. Cis. Hetero. Gay. Sun-kissed, dark, and ambiguous skin tones. Apophenia (tending to see patterns/connections between unrelated things).

 

📚 Format: Library Digital